BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer
SAYREVILLE — The borough’s public schools have a lot to be proud of.
That’s what district officials were saying at last week’s Board of Education meeting when they announced the release of preliminary results of the state mandated tests given every year to third-, fourth-, eighth- and eleventh-graders.
The tests are broken down into three categories: the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK); the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA); and the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
When comparing the scores from 2003-04 tests results, the district increased overall in 14 of 16 testing categories, which officials called a phenomenal achievement.
“I’m really pleased with the results,” said Board President Kevin Ciak. “In a year that was full of distractions, our staff and our students really delivered.”
This past year saw the opening of the all-new Sayreville Upper Elementary School, a new teacher’s contract and the controversy surrounding the sudden retirement of former Superintendent of Schools Dennis Fyffe.
Some of the highlights in this year’s tests included a rise in all NJASK3 scores in language arts, including an over 10 point climb at Wilson School, from 79.5 to 89.9; a rise in Math scores at the GEPA level, from 60.1 to 69.0; and a rise in Math at the HSPA level, from 71.3 to 82.0.
“When you look at the scores, particularly in math, the results we have seen are really phenomenal,” Ciak said. “I’m very pleased and proud of the staff and students for the accomplishments.”
Acting Superintendent of Schools Frank Alfano agreed, citing a number of after hour tutoring services offered by the district to help the children get up to speed.
“The programs we’re putting in place to help the kids are actually working,” he said. “We have an entire action plan.”
That plan has included additional help before and after school, between January and March, as well as summer programs.
Alfano said there have been between 18 and 35 tutorial sessions children could attend before or after school to help prepare them for their individual tests. He noted all of the remedial programs have been paid for by the board, eliminating costs to parents who wish to use the services.
This is all in preparation for the district reaching a country-wide mandated goal of 100-percent proficiency for every child in the total population, Alfano said, as part of President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind act.
Districts must achieve an Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goal every year that will equal 100 percent by 2014.
This year, though some tests results, such as the NJASK4 in language arts, fell to 81.5 from 86.5 last year, Alfano noted that Sayreville is still meeting and exceeding AYP levels in all 16 categories.
“We’re above every category,” he said. “We’re still what the state considers to be proficient or meeting AYP.”
Alfano said in addition to extra tutoring for students to prepare for the tests, the district has created a director of planning, research and assessment position, to maintain the overwhelming amount of data now being created.
The board approved the placement of Marilyn Zeichner to the position. She will step down as Sayreville War Memorial High School’s vice principal to take on the new position in September.
“No Child Left Behind is now in it’s third, fourth year,” Alfano said. “All the stats are piling up. It’s going to literally be a full-time job just tracking this data.”
Though it is a complicated process, filled with groups and subgroups of students that must, by law, reach 100 percent proficiency by 2014, the superintendent said it is an attainable goal the Sayreville school district is working slowly toward meeting.
“We’re climbing that ladder slowly but surely,” he said. “We have nine years. All we’re doing is trying to get as close as we can to our goal.”